Michael Smith Named Employee of the Semester

Michael Smith, Human Resources Associate

VALDOSTA – Valdosta State University named Michael Smith as its Spring 2014 Employee of the Semester.

Smith has been working at Valdosta State for three years. He began as a student assistant with the Student Employment Office, at which time he spearheaded the creation of the university’s Student Employee Advisory Council. The council was formed in 2011 to serve as a liaison between student employees and administration.

Smith now serves the Student Employment Office as a human resources associate. He handles student employee recruitment and training and also works with PeopleAdmin, job posting and applicant processing, reporting, and user access.

"I work with many teams in most of the projects that I tackle, so the Employee of the Semester Award is not just something for me,” said Smith. “This is an award for all of us. It is validation of great teamwork and lets me know that we have made progress.”

Alan Sanderson from VSU’s Office of Facilities Planning was named first runner up for Employee of the Semester and Philip Bishop from the Center for eLearning was named second runner up. Other nominees included Terry Morton, senior secretary with the Department of Art; Karen Jarvis, departmental secretary with the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education; Sterlin Sanders, assistant director with the Division of Information Technology; Melissa Nolley, senior secretary with the Department of Chemistry; Sarah-Jane McNalley, senior secretary with the Department of Biology; Corey Wasley, helpdesk manager with the Division of Information Technology; and Valerie Bayman, senior secretary with the Department of Early Childhood and Special Education.

VSU’s Council on Staff Affairs presents the Employee of the Semester Award at the end of every fall and spring semester. All full-time classified staff employees are eligible for the award.